Video: Camp Fire Leaves Paradise, California in Ruins

The deadliest and most destructive wildfire in recorded California history has been burning for about one week - this is what's left of the town of Paradise.

(Published Friday, Nov. 16, 2018)

This year brought wildfires from California to Sweden that were notable not just for their size but proximity to cities and death toll, experts told NBC News.

The so-called Camp Fire in November was California's most destructive on record, killing nearly 90 people. While there were U.S. fewer fires in 2018 compared to the annual average over the last 10 years, a far greater area was destroyed than normal, according to Carrie Bilbao, a spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center.

She and Omar Baddour, chief of climate data for the World Meteorological Organization, said fires are increasingly cropping up in the traditional off-season, giving firefighters little reprieve.